None of the turmoil in Qin Siyang's heart showed on his face.
With his back to the computer, he looked straight at Wang Defa, his entire face concealed in shadow, keeping Wang Defa on edge.
Wang Defa swallowed. His thick beard, which extended down to his Adam's apple, twitched twice, and a bead of sweat trickled down his chin.
"So, if you want to register a fake sequence with the Sequence Ability Management Bureau, you can't go there directly."
"You need someone to help you."
Qin Siyang was shocked again. Someone inside the Sequence Ability Management Bureau actually dared to help falsify something like this?
Were there many people like me who didn't want to reveal their secrets?
But Qin Siyang didn't voice these questions. Wang Defa was only an Internet Cafe owner; he couldn't possibly know the answers.
He only asked about things Wang Defa could provide information on.
"Who should I look for around here?"
"Boss, as for who you should look for, I don't know either... I'm not a Sequence Ability User. It's already hard enough for me to know this much..."
Qin Siyang sneered. "If you don't know who can help, everything you've said is worthless."
Wang Defa hesitated for a while longer. He glanced at Qin Siyang in the shadows and said, "I don't know who can help, but I have a rough idea of who you could ask to find the insider at the Administration Bureau."
"Name."
"The Blonde Policewoman at the Police Bureau, Roylena."
"Roylena?"
Qin Siyang wasn't familiar with anyone at the Police Bureau, since he had never dealt with its officers.
Or rather, he had dealt with them in secret, mainly through anonymous battles of wits.
"Yes, Roylena. I know about this because one day about three years ago, she came here and asked me to configure a computer so she could use it with a hidden address."
"I... I thought she was pretty, with her blonde hair and blue eyes, so I wanted to know what she'd come here to do."
"So you monitored her computer?"
"Yes..."
It seemed Liu Dazhi had learned his habit of spying on customers from his boss, Wang Defa.
But Wang Defa knew where to draw the line, and what he should and shouldn't do after spying. Liu Dazhi had only picked up Wang Defa's bad habit, not his cunning.
"She was talking anonymously with someone on-screen about exactly this. She wanted that person to sort out her identity. What identity would a Sequence Ability User need sorted out? I figured it could only mean faking her sequence."
"Later, I heard Roylena had joined the Police Bureau, and her sequence was [Scent Seeker], the kind the Police Bureau likes best. That made me even more convinced something was wrong."
"If her sequence really was [Scent Seeker], why would she be worried about her identity?"
Qin Siyang nodded slightly. He saw no flaw in Wang Defa's reasoning. There was most likely something wrong with Roylena's sequence.
"That person didn't leave any clues?"
Wang Defa thought back, then shook his head. "No, that person was anonymous too. All I remember is that their handle in the chat room was [Dream Maker]."
"But the handles in that chat room seemed to be randomly assigned and changed every day. They were Dream Maker that day, but no one knew what they'd be called next time. So I don't think that counts as much of a clue."
Qin Siyang thought for a moment, then asked, "Then what were the terms of their deal?"
"One silver coin. Roylena was to put a silver coin under a paving stone beside a certain Safe Zone exit. Once that person got the money, they'd falsify her registration information."
"You didn't try going to that paving stone ahead of time and stealing Roylena's silver coin?"
Wang Defa smiled bitterly. "Boss, how would I dare? If I stole her silver coin, she'd definitely figure out I'd been monitoring her. Wouldn't that ruin my Internet Cafe's reputation?"
"As you know, I'm just the front man for this Internet Cafe. Most of the profits still have to go upstairs. If the person behind me found out I'd ruined his income out of greed, he'd skin me alive!"
"You're smart, at least."
Wang Defa took no pleasure in Qin Siyang's praise. Instead, his tone turned somewhat resentful. "I'm an ordinary person dealing with Sequence Ability Users every day. If I weren't quick on my feet, I'd have died hundreds of times already."
"But afterward, I did find some time to check out that paving stone out of curiosity."
"Did you find anything?"
"Unless you're a Sequence Ability User, you can't even get near that paving stone."
"Why?"
"Because it's near the gate at the Safe Zone exit, in the rest area for Sequence Ability Users. Plenty of people come and go every day."
"If people come and go every day, how did Roylena put the silver coin underneath it?"
"I don't know. Maybe she specifically picked a time when no one was around. Boss, that's all I know."
Qin Siyang fell silent for a long time, considering what to do next.
From Wang Defa's account, it wasn't hard to deduce that [Dream Maker], the insider at the Administration Bureau, could obtain all of Roylena's information.
Otherwise, they couldn't have created a tailor-made false identity for her.
But the anonymous nature of the transaction led Qin Siyang to believe that Roylena probably didn't know who this [Dream Maker] was.
That meant Qin Siyang would have to make a deal with an unknown person and sell them all his information.
Meanwhile, the other party could remain hidden in the shadows.
It would amount to selling that person leverage over him, allowing them to blackmail him at any time. Qin Siyang absolutely couldn't accept being left so vulnerable.
"All right, I understand. Thank you. But there's one more thing I need your help with."
"Please go ahead."
"I'm a little short on money right now. Sorry for the trouble, but lend me a silver coin so I can get my fake sequence identity registered."
Wang Defa was dumbfounded.
Hadn't I run myself ragged and thrown away my dignity all for that one silver coin?
Now Qin Siyang wants it back?! Then what was any of this for?!
Qin Siyang knew this wasn't a particularly respectable thing to do, but he truly had no other way to scrape together the silver coin he needed.
He couldn't kill someone else just for one silver coin, could he?
"Boss, isn't this going too far?! Are you just making a fool of me?!"
"I told you, you're lending it to me. Once I join the Sequence Ability Management Bureau, I'll pay you back double."
"You should know that if I wanted to take it by force, I wouldn't need to explain this much."
Wang Defa thought nothing of Qin Siyang's empty promises.
"Boss, it's not like I've never let someone run a tab before, but an entire silver coin at once? I..."
"I don't have time to waste talking. Either I borrow a silver coin, or I take one. Your choice. If you want to report me to the Police Bureau, you're welcome to try."
Without waiting for Wang Defa to reply, Qin Siyang continued, "You're a smart man. You know which choice to make. Please leave. I need to use the computer. I'll come to the entrance of your Internet Cafe tomorrow night. You can lend me the silver coin then."
Wang Defa clenched his fists and stood there, staring at Qin Siyang's back without answering.
"Don't do anything stupid. Think of your family."
Qin Siyang offered the reminder casually.
Before you continue